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« Procedural Note | Main | Elsewhere »

October 17, 2007

 Grumpy Old Bookman on Short Stories

Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

Grumpy Old Bookman thinks that the problem with the contempo short story is that "it's pussywhipped." He gets no argument from me on that score. Also not to be missed are GOB's two contrasting Histories of the Short Story, the official one and the true one. "Not only do academic writers tend to overlook whole areas of fiction writing," writes GOB, "but they are also likely to ignore the economic facts of life." There's a lot of experience and wisdom in those words.

Thanks to Dave Lull.

Best,

Michael

posted by Michael at October 17, 2007




Comments

All three are great posts, thanks! I believe that the internet is a fertile ground for wannabe writers, many of whom have true talents but no hope of breaking through that wall of collegiate literary journals nor the few mags that still bother reading an unpublished writer with no MFA credentials.

Posted by: susan on October 17, 2007 5:45 PM

The pussification of the short story is complete up here in Canada, where the paradigm Canadian short story is now a subtle, subdued ripoff of the subtle, subdued stories of the (truly great) Alice Munro. You know, the kind of quiet, interior stories that make you (male you's, that is) yearn to see a character's head suddenly "just f*ckin' explode, man! With one f*ckin' shot! Explode!"

But then again, Canada has long been a testosterone-challenged country. Sad to see the estrogen flood is spreading south, though.

Posted by: PatrickH on October 20, 2007 5:41 PM


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